From Paris and Nicky Hilton to fairy tales and synesthesia, unexpected inspirations of top New York fashion designers

Inspiration is a starting point for artists.

Fashion designers draw inspiration from a wide range of things when creating their latest collections – from people to places, art and music.

‘Paris and Nicky (Hilton) were my muses,’ alice + olivia designer Stacey Bendet told Daily Mail.

‘Throughout my career they’ve been my best friends, and they have this sort of ladylike vixen vibe to them.

‘They’re so sexy and so sensual but also so ladylike and elegant and that’s what i wanted throughout the whole collection.’

‘My mother once told me that I dream in dresses. The collection is an ode to both imagination and what I call wearable couture,’ said Stacey

The alice + olivia spring/summer 2025 presentation took place at New York’s Highline Stages.

Guests were invited to step into Hotel Imagination, a fantastical world that highlights the brand’s latest collection. 

The presentation featured music by Isan Elba who played hits from Paris Hilton’s new album Bad Bitch Academy.

Paris was on hand in an alice + olivia all-black lace look, while Nicky donned a snake print trench coat dress. 

‘I wanted romance again, and I want women to see clothing as art,’ alice + olivia CEO and Creative Director 

The showcase was made up of fantastical vignettes, each featuring a different aesthetic that transported viewers to another place.

From the fashions to the set design, each vignette represented a signature print or embellishment.

The included a lace library, a fantasy floral salon, a decoupaged dinette, and a chambre de l’étoile.

The show notes read:

‘My mother once told me that I dream in dresses. The collection is an ode to both imagination and what I call wearable couture. 

‘I wanted romance again, and I want women to see clothing as art,’ CEO and Creative Director Stacey Bendet says. 

The designer tapped into the retro silhouettes of the fifties and sixties.

‘It’s all about a nod to the past while ushering in the future. Women want clothes that are wearable and expressive. I want to make clothes that always feel unique and make a woman feel her most beautiful.’

For the Simkhai SS25 collection, Jonathan took inspiration from his mother’s wedding dress

For the SIMKHAI SS25 collection, Jonathan took inspiration from his mother’s wedding dress.

The dress was crafted from an embroidered silk tulle created by SIMKHAI’s late grandfather in their family owned lace mill in Iran.

The cascade of silk tulle embroidery with tiny silk florals acted as a starting point for SIMKHAI’s spring collection featuring three-dimensional floral appliqué, hand-crocheted metallics, laser-cut leather, and fin pleating techniques across dresses, suiting, and knitwear. 

The showcase was unveiled at Edge at Hudson Yards, to a front row of guests including Taraji P. Henson, Molly Sims, Suni Lee, Alexandra Raisman and Charlotte Lawrence. 

SS25 show notes read:

For SIMKHAI, his mom’s wedding dress has always been a staple of family lore, often recounted in the same breath as tales of growing up and falling in love. 

SIMKHAI hopes to celebrate it and with her approval, breathe new life into that memory for her and his family, allowing the essence of her dress and time to bloom anew. 

The dress was crafted from an embroidered silk tulle created by SIMKHAI’s late grandfather in their family owned lace mill in Iran

The cascade of silk tulle embroidery with tiny silk florals acted as a starting point for SIMKHAI’s spring collection featuring three-dimensional floral appliqué,

‘This season felt like falling into an evening fantasy dream, centered around the idea of dark, romantic glamour,’ said Christian Siriano.

‘This season felt like falling into an evening fantasy dream, centered around the idea of dark, romantic glamour,’ said Christian Siriano. 

The spring/summer 25 showcase took place at The Pierre Hotel.

‘I’m always inspired by fairy tales – from vintage folklore of a dark forest coming alive at night, to Grimms’ Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel or The White Snake,’ said the designer.

Adding, ‘These worlds offer an escape, one that I wanted to emulate through a collection that balances power and strength with a sense of whimsy and elegance. 

‘The palette mirrors a night sky that is moody with touches of muted pastels, featuring textures like intricate floral-tattooed lace, laser-cut vegan leather beaded to imitate bark on a tree, and an abstract sequined gown that feels like modern wings.’

‘I’m always inspired by fairy tales – from vintage folklore of a dark forest coming alive at night, to Grimms’ Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel or The White Snake’

‘These worlds offer an escape, one that I wanted to emulate through a collection that balances power and strength with a sense of whimsy and elegance’

Jonathan Cohen is always inspired by music.

For his spring/summer collection ‘Synesthesia’, the designer took his passion one step further with the help of science and the five senses. 

Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colors or feeling sounds.

Cohen dove deep into the world of synesthesia and its many variations, including Chromesthesia – a sound-to-color connection where sounds involuntarily create a relationship with colors.

Jonathan Cohen is always inspired by music, but for his spring/summer collection dubbed Synesthesia, he takes his passion one step further with the help of science and the five senses

Show notes read:

‘In one particular reading a woman described her experience at the orchestra. 

As the music began the woman was hit with rays of white light that slowly transitioned into pinks, followed by darker reddish hues which transcended into many shades of blue until the crescendo hit and a beaming supernova of colors exploded in front of her eyes. 

Finally, the concert concluded and she sat surrounded by darkness. Inspired by this vivid account, Cohen began designing his Spring/Summer 2025 collection.

In this season’s floral prints, Cohen tried to encapsulate this color journey, creating three distinct prints that represent her experience at the orchestra.

The collection’s additional two color stories approach the woman’s orchestral Synesthesia experience from a macro perspective. 

Both the colorful tweed and the diagonal tie dyes are designed with colors that bleed into one another similarly to how the woman described the colors in front of her eyes warping and blending from one to the next as the musical notes change.’